Dolphins do Trusnik extension, in great 2013 cap situation

It's not about this year anymore, as you know. It's about next year, and particularly next offseason for the Dolphins. And the team has been preparing for that mega-offseason in which it will have five picks in the first 100 picks of the NFL draft and approximately $46,840,000 million in salary cap space, assuming certain things happen.

First of all, the club has done only one contract extension this season. Jason Trusnik last month quietly signed a two-year extension on his original two year deal signed in 2011. That means Trusnik is signed through 2014 now. The extension is worth $2.17 million. It included a $600,000 bonus with base salaries of $715,000 in 2013 and $855,000 in 2014. Trusnik is making $700,000 this season.

It is the only contract extension the Dolphins did during this season. And it adds Trusnik to the list of players under contract to the team in 2013. Those players represent $75,060,751 in salary cap space already taken up for 2013.

Now, the salary cap has been estimated by various sources, including NFL.com, to come in at approximately $121 million for 2013.

So how much cap space will the Dolphins have?

Well, you have to add approximately $1.6 million in dead money to the Dolphins total to bring it to $76,660,751. That tells you the Dolphins will have $44,340,000 for next year.

But there are other machinations.

The club will sign perhaps 7-9 players to future contracts within days after the season. That will take up approximately $2.5-$3.3 million of space. So we're down to around $41,840,000 of available cap space for 2013. The team also has approximately $5 in unused cap space from this year. It can elect to carry over that cap space and use it next year (as most teams do) or not.

If the Dolphins carry over their space -- and I stress that most teams do -- they'd be at approximately $46,840,000 in available salary cap space for next season -- give or take $1 million. Use that as the working figure for available cap space in 2013 as the Dolphins enter free agency.

Free agency, you must remember, will include the 15 or so players Miami has unsigned.